Employee Vacation Scheduling and Payout System

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is an employee vacation scheduling system for enabling an employee to purchase vacation travel services on the basis of the availability of the paid leaves thereof. The vacation scheduling system comprises a database comprising a plurality of employees wherein, each employee is associated with the number of paid leaves the employee is entitled to. The scheduling system further comprises a store module for enabling an employee to purchase a vacation travel service that spans a predetermined number of vacation days, a date module for enabling the employee, in the process of purchasing the vacation travel service, to mark successive vacation dates for the utilization of the vacation travel service, and a payment module for enabling the employee to pay for the vacation travel service upon determining that the number of vacation days are lesser than or equivalent

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation Application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/070,741 filed Mar. 15, 2016, which is acontinuation application of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/856,312 filed Apr. 3, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No.9,305,290.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to online travel scheduling and purchasesystems and more particularly to an online vacation scheduling andpurchase system purposed for employees in a bid to make them utilize thepaid leaves thereof particularly for vacations.

Employee healthcare costs that are generally incurred by employers arealways substantial. A recently conducted study finds that, currently,over 300 billion dollars are spent on employee healthcare costsannually, with almost half of the expenditure being spent onstress-related illnesses. One of the primary reasons for thestress-related illnesses is the continuous work an employee is willingto commit to despite having an ample provision and freedom for takingtime off of it. This ‘working’ on a continuous basis causes the stressto pile on obviously leading to the stress-related injuries, which, inturn, translates into the substantial healthcare expenses. For example,a study revealed that in the United States, in the year 2009, everyemployee, on an average, donated three days of paid leaves back to theiremployer which has amounted to approximately 67 billion dollars. But inreturn, the employers saw a staggering increase of around 97 billiondollars in their healthcare costs. So, given these figures, it is timeemployers take an initiative to encourage the employees thereof to usetheir paid leaves in the direction of vacations especially, asvacations, generally, are best at alleviating stress. This approach notonly saves employers the substantial healthcare costs, but also, amongother things, improves the productivity of their employees and improvesthe employer-employee affinity.

SUMMARY

An employee vacation scheduling system may include:

-   (a) an employee database comprising a plurality of employee entries    and a plurality of non-working calendar dates wherein, each employee    entry represents an employee working for an employer and wherein,    each non-working date represents a non-working day whereon, an    employee is exempted from working, each employee entry associated    with at least one employee paid-leave-deposit-rate wherein, a    paid-leave-deposit-rate represents the number of paid leaves    allotted to an employee per a predetermined length of time within a    current calendar year; and-   (b) a store module may include:    -   (i) a selection module for enabling an employee to select a        vacation travel service out of a plurality of vacation travel        services, a vacation travel service spanning a predetermined        number of vacation days;    -   (ii) a date module for enabling the employee to mark successive        vacation dates for the utilization of the vacation travel        service, the vacation dates comprising an end vacation date        representing the last day of the utilization of a vacation        travel service; and    -   (iii) a payment module for enabling the employee to purchase the        vacation travel service upon determining that the number of        vacation days, which represent the vacation dates and which        exclude the non-working days, are lesser than or equivalent to        the number of paid leaves that the employee will have by the end        vacation date as determined from the at least one        paid-leave-deposit-rate corresponding to the employee.

The vacation scheduling system may include that each employee entry isfurther associated with a paid leave entry wherein, a paid leave entryincludes the total number of paid leaves an employee will have in acurrent calendar year, the employee database further associated with thestore module such that, the number of vacation days, which arerepresented by the vacation dates are deducted from the total number ofpaid leaves of the employee upon the purchase of the vacation travelservice.

The vacation scheduling system includes a conversion module forconverting a paid leave of an employee into an equivalentconversion-based monetary value wherein, upon the conversion of the paidleave, the conversion-based monetary value is associated with thecorresponding employee entry and the converted paid leave is deductedfrom total number of paid leaves of the employee; the employee databasefurther associated with the payment module such that, an employee isenabled to utilize the sum total of conversion-based monetary valuethereof towards the payment of at least a part of the price of avacation travel service.

The vacation scheduling system may include that each employee entry maybe associated with a remuneration value, which represents theremuneration of an employee; the conversion module associated with theemployee database so as to determine the paid leave equivalent ofconversion-based monetary value of an employee.

The vacation scheduling system may include that each employee entrybeing further associated with at least one blocked date entry, whichrepresents a calendar date within the current calendar year whereon, anemployee is not allowed to be on a paid leave; the employee databasefurther associated with the date module such that, vacation dates thatinclude a blocked date cannot be marked.

The vacation scheduling system may be integrated into the employer'sHuman Resources information system so as to enable the employee to logthe vacation dates thereof for reporting purposes.

A vacation scheduling system may include:

-   (a) an employee database including a plurality of employee entries,    a plurality of non-working calendar dates wherein, each employee    entry represents an employee working for an employer and wherein,    each non-working date represents a non-working day whereon, an    employee is exempted from working, each employee entry associated    with at least one employee paid-leave-deposit-rate, a current number    of paid leaves, and a total number of paid leaves wherein, a    paid-leave-deposit-rate represents the number of paid leaves    allotted to an employee per a predetermined length of time within a    current calendar year, wherein, the current number of paid leaves    indicate the number of paid leaves that are currently available to    the employee, and wherein, the total number of paid leaves indicate    the total number of paid leaves the employee is entitled to in a    current calendar year; and-   (b) a conversion module for converting a paid leave of an employee    into an equivalent conversion-based monetary value wherein, upon the    conversion of the paid leave, the conversion-based monetary value is    associated with the corresponding employee entry and the converted    paid leave is deducted from current number of paid leaves of the    employee; and-   (c) a store module including:    -   (i) a selection module for enabling an employee to select a        vacation travel service out of a plurality of vacation travel        services, a vacation travel service spanning a predetermined        number of vacation days;    -   (ii) a date module for enabling the employee to mark successive        vacation dates for the utilization of the vacation travel        service, the vacation dates comprising an end vacation date        representing the last day of the utilization of a vacation        travel service; and    -   (iii) a payment module for enabling the employee to purchase the        vacation travel service using the sum total of conversion-based        monetary value thereof upon determining that the number of        vacation days, which represent the vacation dates and which        exclude the non-working days, are lesser than or equivalent to        the number of paid leaves that the employee will be have by the        end vacation date as determined from the at least one        paid-leave-deposit-rate corresponding to the employee, the        employee database further associated with the store module such        that, the number of vacation days pertaining to the vacation        travel service are deducted from the total number of paid leaves        of the employee upon the purchase of the vacation travel        service.

An employee vacation scheduling method may include:

-   (a) providing an employee database comprising a plurality of    employee entries and a plurality of non-working calendar dates    wherein, each employee entry represents an employee working for an    employer and wherein, each non-working date represents a non-working    day whereon, an employee is exempted from working, each employee    entry associated with at least one employee paid-leave-deposit-rate    wherein, a paid-leave-deposit-rate represents the number of paid    leaves allotted to an employee per a predetermined length of time    within a current calendar year; and-   (b) providing a store module comprising:    -   (i) a selection module for enabling an employee to select a        vacation travel service out of a plurality of vacation travel        services, a vacation travel service spanning a predetermined        number of vacation days;    -   (ii) a date module for enabling the employee to mark successive        vacation dates for the utilization of the vacation travel        service, the vacation dates comprising an end vacation date        representing the last day of the utilization of a vacation        travel service; and    -   (iii) a payment module for enabling the employee to purchase the        vacation travel service upon determining that the number of        vacation days, which represent the vacation dates and which        exclude the non-working days, are lesser than or equivalent to        the number of paid leaves that the employee will have by the end        vacation date as determined from the paid-leave-deposit-rate        corresponding to the employee.

The vacation scheduling method may have each employee entry beingfurther associated with a paid leave entry wherein, a paid leave entrycomprises the total number of paid leaves an employee will have in acurrent calendar year, the employee database further associated with thestore module such that, the number of vacation days, which arerepresented by the vacation dates are deducted from the total number ofpaid leaves of the employee upon the purchase of the vacation travelservice.

The vacation scheduling method may include a conversion module forconverting a paid leave of an employee into an equivalentconversion-based monetary value wherein, upon the conversion of the paidleave, the conversion-based monetary value is associated with thecorresponding employee entry and the converted paid leave is deductedfrom total number of paid leaves of the employee; the employee databasefurther associated with the payment module such that, an employee isenabled to utilize the sum total of conversion-based monetary valuethereof towards the payment of at least a part of the price of avacation travel service.

The vacation scheduling method may have each employee entry beingfurther associated with a remuneration value, which represents theannual remuneration of an employee; the conversion module associatedwith the employee database so as to determine the paid leave equivalentof conversion-based monetary value of an employee. The vacationscheduling method may have each employee entry being further associatedwith at least one blocked date entry, which represents a calendar datewithin the current calendar year whereon, an employee is not allowed tobe on a paid leave; the employee database further associated with thedate module such that, vacation dates that include a blocked date cannotbe marked.

The vacation scheduling method may have the date module to be integratedinto the employer's Human Resources information system so as to enablethe employee to log the vacation dates thereof for reporting purposes.

A vacation scheduling method may include:

-   (a) providing an employee database comprising a plurality of    employee entries, a plurality of non-working calendar dates wherein,    each employee entry represents an employee working for an employer    and wherein, each non-working date represents a non-working day    whereon, an employee is exempted from working, each employee entry    associated with at least one employee paid-leave-deposit-rate, a    current number of paid leaves, and a total number of paid leaves    wherein, a paid-leave-deposit-rate represents the number of paid    leaves allotted to an employee per a predetermined length of time    within a current calendar year, wherein, the current number of paid    leaves indicate the number of paid leaves that are currently    available to the employee, and wherein, the total number of paid    leaves indicate the total number of paid leaves the employee is    entitled to in a current calendar year; and-   (b) providing a conversion module for converting a paid leave of an    employee into an equivalent conversion-based monetary value wherein,    upon the conversion of the paid leave, the conversion-based monetary    value is associated with the corresponding employee entry and the    converted paid leave is deducted from current number of paid leaves    of the employee; and-   (c) providing a store module including:    -   (i) a selection module for enabling an employee to select a        vacation travel service out of a plurality of vacation travel        services, a vacation travel service spanning a predetermined        number of vacation days;    -   (ii) a date module for enabling the employee to mark successive        vacation dates for the utilization of the vacation travel        service, the vacation dates comprising an end vacation date        representing the last day of the utilization of a vacation        travel service; and    -   (iii) a payment module for enabling the employee to purchase the        vacation travel service using the sum total of conversion-based        monetary value thereof upon determining that the number of        vacation days, which represent the vacation dates and which        exclude the non-working days, are lesser than or equivalent to        the number of paid leaves that the employee will be have by the        end vacation date as determined from the at least one        paid-leave-deposit-rate corresponding to the employee, the        employee database further associated with the store module such        that, the number of vacation days pertaining to the vacation        travel service are deducted from the total number of paid leaves        of the employee upon the purchase of the vacation travel        service.

The present invention is a computer-based employee vacation schedulingsystem and method for enabling an employee working for an employer toschedule and purchase vacation travel services, such as vacationpackages, on the basis of the availability of the paid leaves thereof.An embodiment of the scheduling system comprises employee databasecomprising a plurality of employee entries wherein, each employee entryrepresents an employee. Further, each employee entry is associated withthe total number of paid leaves that are currently available to thecorresponding employee. The scheduling system further comprises a storemodule that actually enables an employee to purchase a vacation travelservice out of a plurality of vacation travel services wherein, avacation travel service spans a predetermined number of vacation days.The employee database is associated with the store module in such a waythat, the payment for the vacation travel service is processed only whenthe total number of vacation days are lesser than or equivalent to thetotal number of the paid leaves of the employee that are available. Thenumber of vacation days is deducted from the total available number ofpaid leaves once the vacation travel service is purchased.

Other objects and advantages of the embodiments herein will becomereadily apparent from the following detailed description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting the arrangement between employerinformation system and the scheduling system according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the store module according to the preferredembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary screenshot of listed vacation travel servicesaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart representing the logic employed by the paid leavesmodule according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart representing the logic employed by the compulsorymodule according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart representing the logic employed by the conversionmodule according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGURES—REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   -   10 . . . Employer Information System    -   12 . . . Human Resources Database    -   14 . . . Employee Vacation Scheduling System    -   16 . . . Employee Database    -   18 . . . Store Module    -   20 . . . Selection Module    -   22 . . . Date Module    -   24 . . . Payment Module    -   26 . . . Conversion Module    -   28 . . . Eligibility Module

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, a reference is made to theaccompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which the specificembodiments that may be practiced is shown by way of illustration. Theseembodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilledin the art to practice the embodiments and it is to be understood thatthe logical, mechanical and other changes may be made without departingfrom the scope of the embodiments. The following detailed description istherefore not to be taken in a limiting sense.

The present invention comprises a computer-based employee vacationscheduling system (hereinafter, “scheduling system”), which may be bestrun as a third-party service provider that serves employers and theemployees thereof. The scheduling system, preferably accessed over theInternet, enables an employee working for a registered employer toschedule and purchase a vacation travel service or services out of aplurality of vacation travel services. A vacation travel service, whichspans a predetermined amount of time ranging from a few hours to severaldays, may comprise a travel service such as a one way air travel, or ashort-spanned treatment, such as a spa session, or, on the other hand,may comprise a few to several individual services combined into apackage that may define an entire itinerary. The combination of suchservices may comprise, for instance, a to-and-fro air travel, hotelstay, and a plurality of fun programs or activities that are scheduledbetween the to-and-fro air travel.

The registered employer, as the term suggests, comprises an employerthat has registered with the scheduling system by providing employerinformation, such as the employer identity, addresses, number ofemployees working therefor, type of business, type of products/servicesoffered, and etc. In some cases, a registration fee might be charged inorder for the registration to be complete. The scheduling systemcomprises a user interface for enabling a user to interact therewith andan employee database comprising a plurality of non-working dateswherein, each non-working date represents a non-working day, such as apublic holiday or a weekend, whereon, an employee is exempted fromworking. The employee database further comprises a plurality of theemployee entries wherein, each employee entry is associated with atleast one employee paid-leave-deposit-rate. An employee entry representsan employee working for the employer wherein, the employee is identifiedby an employee name or an employee identification number or code, or thelike.

The paid-leave-deposit-rate associated with each employee entrycomprises the number of paid leaves allotted to an employee per apredetermined length of time within a period of time defined, such that,the sum of each predetermined length of time pertaining to each of theat least one paid-leave-deposit-rate is equivalent to the time span ofthe current calendar year. The paid-leave-deposit-rate might vary fromone group of employees to another working for the same employer or evenmight vary from one employee to another working for the same employer asthe paid-leave-deposit-rate is set according to the discretion of theemployer so as to, after all, obtain optimum benefit. For example, in anorganization (run by an employer), the top management might have a moregenerous paid-leave-deposit-rate compared to the rest of the employees.Generally, paid leaves are allotted to employees in two ways, viz., anupfront method and an accrual method. In the upfront method, as the termsuggests, the employee is ‘paid’ upfront with the total number of paidleaves he/she is entitled to in a current calendar year. For example, ifan employee is entitled to 30 days of paid leave within a currentcalendar year, those 30 days are provided upfront by the employerallowing the employee to make use of the leaves anytime with the currentcalendar year. Therefore, the paid-leave-deposit-rate for the aboveexample comprises 30 days per 12 months.

The accrual method is further categorized into a linear and a non-linearaccrual method. In the linear accrual method, a specific number ofleaves are granted to an employee per a specific time period within acurrent calendar year wherein, the specific number of leaves and thespecific time period are constant throughout the current calendar year.For example, if the employee is entitled to 30 days of paid leave withina current calendar year, by the linear accrual method, 2.5 days of leaveare accrued by the employee at the beginning of every month. So, in thiscase, the paid-leave-deposit-rate is 2.5 days per month (throughout theyear). However, in the non-linear method, the number of paid leaves thatwill be accrued and/or the frequency at which the paid leaves areaccrued varies. Considering the earlier example of 30 days of paid leavebeing allotted to an employee within a current calendar year, in case ofnon-linear accrual method, an employee may, for example, accrue 1.5 daysof paid leave every month for the first 6 months, and then, accrue 3.5days for paid leave every month for the rest of the calendar year. Now,in this case, the paid-leave-deposit-rates are 1.5 days per month forthe first 6 months and 3.5 days per month for the rest of the currentcalendar year. In another example, the employee may be granted 15 daysof paid leave upfront, and may accrue 1.25 days of paid leave everymonth throughout the current calendar year. And in this particularexample, the paid-leave-deposit-rates would be 16.25 (15+1.25) days permonth for the first month followed by 1.25 days per month for the restof the eleven months. In yet another example, where the employee may notbe eligible for any paid leaves for the initial six months, but becomesentitled to them thereafter, the paid-leave-deposit-rates comprise 0days per first 6 months followed by 30 days per the remaining 6 months.

Each employee entry in the employee database is further associated witha number of used paid leaves and a number of carried-over paid leaveswherein, a used paid leave comprises a paid leave that is ‘used up’ bythe employee and wherein, a carried-over paid leave comprises an unusedpaid leave that is carried forward from the previous calendar year oryears. In one embodiment, the scheduling system is configured such that,as the paid leaves are utilized by an employee, the number of used paidleaves are deducted first from the carried over paid leaves followed bythe deduction from the paid leaves that are accumulated in the currentcalendar year. However, in case, there is no such provision for the paidleaves to be carried over to next calendar year, the carried-over paidleaves column in the employee database simply reflects a zero and theused paid leaves are deducted from the paid leaves that are accumulatedin the current calendar year. Simultaneously, the paid leaves that areutilized by the employee added to the number of used paid leavesassociated with the corresponding employee entry. The employeeinformation provided by the employee database (comprising the employeeentries, paid-leave-deposit rate, the number of used paid leaves, andthe number of carried-over paid leaves) is generally available withinthe employer's Human Resources (HR) database of the employer informationsystem.

Therefore, in one embodiment, as seen in FIG. 1, the employerinformation system 10 that comprises the HR database 12 is interfacedand integrated with the scheduling system 14 such that, the employeeinformation in the HR database 12 can simply be routed into the employeedatabase 16 of the scheduling system 14. In this embodiment, as thescheduling system 14 is integrated into the employer information system10, an employee may have to access the scheduling system 14 only throughthe employer information system 10. FIG. 1 additionally illustrates thatthe employee may access the conversion module 26 to convert the unusedvacation time to an equivalent monetary value. Different employees mayhave different equivalent monetary values for the same unused vacationtime. For example, a janitor who converts the unused vacation time mayhave a relatively low equivalent monetary value. In contrast, anexecutive employee who converts the same amount of unused vacation timemay have a relatively high equivalent monetary value. Consequently, theconversion of the unused vacation time to equivalent monetary value maybe based on the importance/status of the employee. FIG. 6 illustratesthe logic associated with the conversion mode 126 where in step 601 thetotal available paid leaves available to the employee is determined. Instep 603, the value of each paid leaves (day or other increment) basedon the remuneration schedule of the employee and any discount orsupplemental factors applied by the employer is determined, and in step605, the employee elects/selects the number of paid leaves to beconverted. In step 607, the equivalent monetary value of theunelected/selected paid leaves is determined and credited (on a ledgerbasis) to an escrow account for the benefit of the employee to purchasefuture travel expenditures (or may be applied toward the balance of atravel purchase or other good or service purchase selected from thestore module 18). The employer is notified of the election of theemployee and will remit funds to the fulfillment provider to affect thevalue transfer. The scheduling system further comprises a store module18 for enabling an employee to schedule and thereafter purchase avacation travel service out of a plurality of vacation travel services,as well as other products and services that may or may not be used inconjunction with a purchased travel service, based on the paid leavesthereof. Each of the vacation travel services is broken down intovarious fields while being input into the store module (for sale) so asto enable an employee to search and sort the vacation travel services onthe basis of the type of service, price, the duration of the vacationtravel service, the destination of the vacation travel service, andetc., thus enabling the employee to arrive at his/her desired vacationtravel service quicker and easier. Referring to FIG. 2, the store module18 comprises a selection module 20, a date module 22, and eligibilitymodule 28 and a payment module 24. The selection module 20 enables anemployee to select a vacation travel service out of a plurality ofvacation travel services available in the store module 18. The selectionmodule 20 may simply comprise a hyperlink marked as, for example,“Book,” as seen in FIG. 3 that directs the employee to a place wherehe/she can assign or mark successive vacation dates for the utilizationof the selected vacation travel service as enabled by the date module22.

The date module 22 preferably comprises a calendar application formarking successive vacation dates for the utilization of the vacationtravel service wherein, the vacation dates represent the vacation days,the vacation travel service spans. The vacation dates comprise a startvacation date and an end vacation date wherein, the start and the endvacation dates represent the first and the last day of the utilizationof the vacation travel service respectively. In one embodiment, thecalendar application is configured in such a way that, the employee onlyneeds to mark the start vacation date whereupon, the rest of thesuccessive vacation dates are marked automatically. Once the vacationdates are marked by the employee, he/she may be directed to theeligibility module 28 in order to determine the amount of paid leavesand money are required for the travel selection. Subsequently, he/she isdirected to the payment module 24 upon activating or clicking on apurchase hyperlink marked, for example, as “Buy.” The payment module 24,in tum, comprises a paid leaves module that is in communication with theemployee database. The paid leaves module is instrumental in enablingthe payment module to process the payment towards the purchase of avacation travel service. The paid leaves module is configured todetermine the number of paid leaves the employee will have by the endvacation date based on the paid-leave-deposit-rate, the number ofcarried-over paid leaves and the number of used paid leaves thereof. Forexample, if the paid-leave-deposit-rate of the employee is 2.5 paidleaves per month throughout the current calendar year, the end vacationdate is in September (month #9), and the employee, has 3 days ofcarried-over paid leaves, and has so far used up 4 days of paid leave,then the number of paid leaves of the employee will have by the endvacation date is 21.5 (((2.5×9)+3)−4)) days. In another example, if thepaid-leave-deposit-rate of the employee is 1.5 days per month for thefirst six months followed by 3.5 days per month for the rest of themonths, the end vacation date is in the month of September, and theemployee has 3 days of carried-over paid leaves, and has so far used up4 days of paid leave, then the number of paid leaves the employee willhave by the end vacation date is 18.5 ((((1.5×6)+(3.5×3))+3)−4) days.

Referring to FIG. 4—a representation of the logic executed by the paidleaves module—the paid leaves module is initiated with identifying thenumber of vacation days pertaining to the vacation travel service atstep 100 wherein, the number of vacation days is exclusive of thenon-working days. Once the number of vacation days is identified, thenumber of paid leaves the employee will have by the end vacation date isdetermined using the paid-leave-deposit-rate of the employee at step 102as shown in the earlier examples. Simultaneously, the number ofcarried-over paid leaves and used paid leaves of the employee areidentified from the employee database at steps 104 and 106 respectively.At this point, the paid leaves module determines whether or not thenumber of vacation days, excluding the non-working days, are lesser thanor equivalent to the sum of the number paid leaves the employee willhave by the end vacation date (as determined by thepaid-leave-deposit-rate) and the number of carried-over paid leavessubtracted by the used paid leaves. The payment is processed at step 108upon determining that the number of vacation days, excluding thenon-working days, are indeed lesser than or equivalent to the sum of thenumber paid leaves the employee will have by the end vacation date andthe number of carried-over paid leaves subtracted by the used paidleaves. WDS However, the payment process is aborted at step 110 if thenumber of vacation days, excluding the non-working days, are greaterthan the sum of the number paid leaves the employee will have by the endvacation date and the number of carried-over paid leaves subtracted bythe used paid leaves. In one embodiment, the paid leaves module isassociated with the date module instead of the payment module such that,the employee is not allowed to progress any further if the number ofvacation days (excluding non-working days) is greater than the sum ofnumber paid leaves the employee will have by the end vacation date andthe number of carried-over paid leaves subtracted by the used paidleaves.

Conventional payment means such as, credit cards, debit cards, Internetbanking, and etc., may be accepted by the payment module for the paymenttowards the payment purposes once the payment processing is allowed bythe paid leaves module. In one embodiment, the payment module isassociated with the employee's banking account, where his/her salary iscredited such that, the payment for the vacation travel service, uponthe consent of the employee, is deducted from the payroll thereof. Inone embodiment, the payment may be deducted in monthly installments forthe convenience of the employee.

Each employee entry of the employee database is further associated witha number of current year paid leaves, a number of total current paidleaves, a number of current entitled paid leaves, and a number of totalentitled paid leaves. The number of current year paid leaves comprisesthe number of paid leaves pertaining to the current calendar year thatthe employee currently possesses. The number of total current paidleaves comprises the sum of the number of carried-over paid leaves andthe number of current year paid leaves. The number of current entitledpaid leaves comprises the number of paid leaves pertaining to thecurrent calendar year that the employee will have by the end of thecurrent calendar year. The number of total entitled paid leavescomprises the sum of the number of carried-over paid leaves and thenumber of current entitled paid leaves. The scheduling system isconfigured such that, when a paid leave is used by an employee, the usedpaid leave is first deducted from the number of carried-over paidleaves. In case of all the carried-over paid leaves being exhausted, theused paid leave will be deducted from the number of current year paidleaves and the number of current entitled paid leaves simultaneously.Notably, in case of an upfront method being employed by employer, thenumber of total current paid leaves is equivalent to the number of totalentitled paid leaves as the number of current year paid leaves isequivalent to the number of current entitled paid leaves.

Once the vacation travel service is purchased by the employee, the totalnumber of vacation days (excluding the non-working days) pertainingthereto, as explained earlier, is deducted from the number ofcarried-over paid leaves first. If the number of vacation days exceedsthe number of carried-over paid leaves or in case of unavailability ofthe carried-over paid leaves, the number of vacation days is subtractedfrom the number of current year paid leaves even to the point where thenumber of current year paid leaves represent a negative value implyingthat the remaining vacation days will be deducted from current year paidleaves as they are accrued by the employee within the current calendaryear. The number of vacation days is also subtracted from the number ofcurrent entitled paid leaves simultaneously along with the number ofcurrent year paid leaves. Further, the number of vacation days(excluding the non-working days) are added to the number of used paidleaves pertaining to the employee entry. In one embodiment where thescheduling system is integrated into the employer information system,the scheduling system is configured such that, once a vacation travelservice is purchased by an employee, the vacation dates, whereon theemployee will be obviously unavailable, are automatically updated intothe HR database so as to enable other employees that are professionallyrelated to the employee to plan and organize the work activities thereofaccordingly.

In one embodiment, each employee entry, or a group or groups of employeeentries, or all employee entries are further associated with acompulsory calendar date or dates wherein, a compulsory date representsa compulsory day, which comprises a day on which, an employee is notallowed to be on leave, including especially a paid leave. In thisembodiment, the payment module further comprises a compulsory module,which is in communication with the employee database. Referring to FIG.5, the compulsory module is initiated with scanning or parsing of thevacation dates marked by the employee for the utilization for thevacation travel service at step 112. Upon parsing, the compulsorymodule, which is in communication with the employee database, determineswhether or not the vacation dates include a compulsory date. The paymentprocess is aborted if the vacation dates indeed include a compulsorydate as seen in step 114. And if the vacation dates does not include acompulsory date, the payment towards the purchase of the vacation travelservice is allowed to be processed as seen in step 116. The compulsorymodule is preferably set to be activated before the activation of thepaid leaves module as the logic executed by the compulsory module isrelatively simpler whereby, the processing power consumed therefor isrelatively lesser. In one embodiment, the compulsory module isassociated with the date module instead of the payment module such that,the employee is not allowed to progress any further if the markedvacation dates include a compulsory date. The employee may be promptedto re-mark his/her vacation dates if the marked vacation dates include acompulsory date.

In one embodiment, the scheduling system further comprises a conversionmodule for converting a paid leave of an employee into an equivalentmonetary value referred to as “vacation money” hereinafter. In oneembodiment, the conversion module is configured to be used only byemployers for converting the unused paid leaves into equivalent vacationmoney. However, alternatively, the conversion module is set to beutilized by employees themselves. Preferably, the vacation money cannotbe exchanged for actual money, but can only be used towards makingpurchases on the scheduling system, thus incentivizing the employees tomake use of the scheduling system. The scheduling system is preferablyconfigured such that, only the paid leaves that are available to theemployee, i.e., the total current paid leaves, are allowed forconversion. In other words, the paid leaves that are yet to be accruedby an employee typically cannot be converted, unless, the employer hasspecifically designed their paid leave system to allow employees toconvert future vacation time that has yet to be accrued, but will beaccrued by the time of the scheduled travel. The scheduling system isconfigured such that, the number of converted paid leaves are deductedfrom the number of carried-over paid leaves first. If the converted paidleaves exceed the number of carried-over paid leaves or in case ofunavailability of the carried-over paid leaves, the converted paidleaves are subtracted from the number of current year paid leaves. Thenumber of converted paid leaves is also subtracted from the number ofcurrent entitled paid leaves simultaneously along with the number ofcurrent year paid leaves. Further, the number of converted paid leavesis added to the number of used paid leaves pertaining to the employeeentry. In this embodiment, each employee entry is further associatedwith total vacation money, which represents total amount of vacationmoney the corresponding employee possesses as a result of paid leaveconversions. The scheduling system is configured such that, uponconversion, the corresponding vacation money is added to the totalvacation money in the employee database.

The employee database is further associated with the payment module suchthat, an employee is enabled to purchase a vacation travel service usinghis/her vacation money. Once paid, the price of the vacation travelservice is deducted from the total vacation money of the employee. Incase, where the price of the vacation travel service is higher than thetotal vacation money of the employee, the employee may be allowed to paythe rest of the price via other payment means, such as a credit card,debit card, Internet Banking, etc. and/or establish payroll deductionsto automatically withhold, in an escrowed salary account, the necessaryamount from each pay period occurring until the time of travel in orderto acquire sufficient funds for that employee to pay the remaining tripexpenses by the time they are due for the travel. Further, in thisembodiment, each employee entry in the employee database is furtherassociated with a remuneration value, which represents the remunerationof each employee. The conversion module is associated with the employeedatabase so as to determine the amount of vacation money that isequivalent to the paid leave of an employee. For example, if theremuneration of an employee is, say, $120,000 per annum and if there area total of 250 working days in a current calendar year, then the amountof vacation money equivalent to a paid leave thereof is $480(120,000+250). In other embodiments, a factor may be used by theemployer to customize the conversion module per the employer's seasonalworkforce demands. For example, if the remuneration of an employee is$120,000 per annum and there are total of 250 working days in a currentcalendar year; however, the 2nd half of the year is seasonally busierthan the first, the employer might allow a 100% conversion of time forthe first 125 days ($480 value per day), but a 75% conversion the 2ndhalf of the year ($360: $480×75%) to incent vacation utilization in thefirst half of the year.

The present invention comprises a computer-based employee vacationscheduling method for enabling an employee working for an employer toschedule and purchase a vacation travel service or services out of aplurality of vacation travel services. A vacation travel service, whichspans a predetermined amount of time ranging from a few hours to severaldays, may comprise a travel service such as a one way air travel, or ashort-spanned treatment, such as a spa session, or, on the other hand,may comprise a few to several individual services combined into apackage that may define an entire itinerary.

The scheduling method comprises providing an employee databasecomprising a plurality of non-working dates wherein, each non-workingdate represents a non-working day whereon, an employee is exempted fromworking. The employee database further comprises a plurality of theemployee entries wherein, each employee entry is associated with atleast one employee paid-leave-deposit-rate. An employee entry representsan employee working for the employer and the paid-leave-deposit-raterepresents the number of paid leaves allotted to an employee per apredetermined length of time within a current calendar year, the sum ofeach predetermined length of time pertaining to each of the at least onepaid-leave-deposit-rate being equivalent to the time span of the currentcalendar year. Generally, paid leaves are allotted to employees in twoways, viz., an upfront method and an accrual method. In the upfrontmethod, as the term suggests, the employee is ‘paid’ upfront with thetotal number of paid leaves he/she is entitled to in a current calendaryear. The accrual method is further categorized into a linear and anon-linear accrual method. In the linear accrual method, a specificnumber of paid leaves are granted to an employee per a specific timeperiod within a current calendar year wherein, the specific number ofpaid leaves and the specific time period are constant throughout thecurrent calendar year. However, in the non-linear method, the specificnumber of paid leaves and the specific time periods at which thespecific number of leaves are granted varies.

Each employee entry in the employee database is further associated witha number of used paid leaves and a number of carried-over paid leaveswherein, a used paid leave comprises a paid leave that is ‘used up’ bythe employee and wherein, a carried-over paid leave comprises an unusedpaid leave that is carried forward from the previous calendar year oryears. The employee information provided by the employee database(comprising the employee entries, paid-leave-deposit rate, the number ofused paid leaves, and the number of carried-over paid leaves) isgenerally available within the employer's Human Resources (HR) databaseof the employer information system. Therefore, in one embodiment, theemployer information system that comprises the HR database is associatedor integrated with the employee database such that, the pertinentinformation in the HR database can simply be routed into the employeedatabase.

The scheduling method further comprises the step of providing a storemodule for enabling an employee to schedule and thereafter purchase avacation travel service out of a plurality of vacation travel servicesbased on the paid leaves thereof wherein, the store module comprises aselection module, a date module, and a payment module. The selectionmodule enables an employee to select a vacation travel service out of aplurality of vacation travel services available in the store module. Theselection module may simply comprise a hyperlink marked as, for example,“Book,” that directs the employee to a place where he/she can assign ormark successive vacation dates for the utilization of the selectedvacation travel service as enabled by the date module.

The date module preferably comprises a calendar application for markingsuccessive vacation dates for the utilization of the vacation travelservice. The vacation dates comprise a start vacation date and an endvacation date wherein, the start and the end vacation dates representthe first and the last day of the utilization of the vacation travelservice respectively. Once the vacation dates are marked by theemployee, he/she is directed to the payment module upon activating orclicking on a purchase hyperlink marked, for example, as “Buy.” Thepayment module, in turn, comprises a paid leaves module that is incommunication with the employee database. The paid leaves module isinstrumental in enabling the payment module to process the paymenttowards the purchase of a vacation travel service. The paid leavesmodule is configured to determine the number of paid leaves the employeewill have by the end vacation date based on the paid-leave-deposit-rate,the number of carried-over paid leaves and the number of used paidleaves thereof. For example, if the paid-leave-deposit-rate of theemployee is 2.5 paid leaves per month throughout the current calendaryear, the end vacation date is in September (month #9), and theemployee, has 3 days of carried-over paid leaves, and has so far used up4 days of paid leave, then the number of paid leaves of the employeewill have by the end vacation date is 21.5 (((2.5×9)+3)−4)) days. Inanother example, if the paid-leave-deposit-rate of the employee is 1.5days per month for the first six months followed by 3.5 days per monthfor the rest of the months, the end vacation date is in the month ofSeptember, and the employee has 3 days of carried-over paid leaves, andhas so far used up 4 days of paid leave, then the number of paid leavesthe employee will have by the end vacation date is 18.5((((1.5×6)+(3.5×3))+3)−4) days.

Once the number of paid leaves by the end vacation date is determined,the paid leaves module determines whether or not the number of vacationdays, excluding the non-working days, are lesser than or equivalent tothe sum of the number paid leaves the employee will have by the endvacation date and the number of carried-over paid leaves subtracted bythe used paid leaves. The payment is processed only upon determiningthat the number of vacation days, excluding the non-working days, areindeed lesser than or equivalent to the sum of the number paid leavesthe employee will have by the end vacation date and the number ofcarried-over paid leaves subtracted by the used paid leaves.Conventional payment means such as, credit cards, debit cards, Internetbanking, and etc., may be accepted by the payment module for the paymenttowards the payment purposes once the payment processing is allowed bythe paid leaves module. In one embodiment, the payment module isassociated with the employee's banking account, where his/her salary iscredited such that, the payment for the vacation travel service, uponthe consent of the employee, is deducted from the payroll thereof.

Each employee entry is further associated with a number of current yearpaid leaves, a number of total current paid leaves, a number of currententitled paid leaves, and a number of total entitled paid leaves. Thenumber of current year paid leaves comprises the number of paid leavespertaining to the current calendar year that the employee currentlypossesses. The number of total current paid leaves comprises the sum ofthe number of carried-over paid leaves and the number of current yearpaid leaves. The number of current entitled paid leaves comprises thenumber of paid leaves pertaining to the current calendar year that theemployee will have by the end of the current calendar year. The numberof total entitled paid leaves comprises the sum of the number ofcarried-over paid leaves and the number of current entitled paid leaves.Notably, in case of an upfront method being employed by employer, thenumber of total current paid leaves is equivalent to the number of totalentitled paid leaves as the number of current year paid leaves isequivalent to the number of current entitled paid leaves.

Once the vacation travel service is purchased by the employee, the totalnumber of vacation days (excluding the non-working days) pertainingthereto is deducted from the number of carried-over paid leaves first.If the number of vacation days exceeds the number of carried-over paidleaves or in case of unavailability of the carried-over paid leaves, thenumber of vacation days is subtracted from the number of current yearpaid leaves even to the point where the number of current year paidleaves represent a negative value implying that the remaining vacationdays will be deducted from current year paid leaves as they are accruedby the employee within the current calendar year. The number of vacationdays is also subtracted from the number of current entitled paid leavessimultaneously along with the number of current year paid leaves.Further, the number of vacation days (excluding the non-working days)are added to the number of used paid leaves pertaining to the employeeentry. In one embodiment, the scheduling method of claim furthercomprises the step of associating the store module with an employerinformation system so as to log the vacation dates of the employee, uponthe purchase of the vacation travel service, into the employerinformation system for Human Resources reporting purposes.

In one embodiment, each employee entry is further associated with acompulsory calendar date or dates wherein, a compulsory date representsa day on which, an employee is not allowed to be on a paid leave. Inthis embodiment, the payment module further comprises a compulsorymodule, which is in communication with the employee database. Thecompulsory module is configured such that the payment process is abortedif the marked vacation dates indeed include a compulsory date.

In one embodiment, the scheduling method further comprises the step ofproviding a conversion module for converting a currently available paidleave of an employee into an equivalent monetary value referred to as“vacation money” hereinafter. The vacation money is set to be used onlytowards making purchases on the scheduling system, thus incentivizingthe employees to make use of the scheduling system. Upon conversion, thenumber of converted paid leaves is deducted from the number ofcarried-over paid leaves first. If the converted paid leaves exceed thenumber of carried-over paid leaves or in case of unavailability of thecarried-over paid leaves, the converted paid leaves are subtracted fromthe number of current year paid leaves. The number of converted paidleaves is also subtracted from the number of current entitled paidleaves simultaneously along with the number of current year paid leaves.Further, the number of converted paid leaves is added to the number ofused paid leaves pertaining to the employee entry. In this embodiment,each employee entry is further associated with total vacation money,which represents total amount of vacation money the correspondingemployee possesses as a result of paid leave conversions. Upon a paidleave conversion, the resultant vacation money is added to the totalvacation money in the employee database.

The employee database is further associated with the payment module suchthat, an employee is enabled to purchase a vacation travel service usinghis/her vacation money. Once paid, the price of the vacation travelservice is deducted from the total vacation money of the employee. Incase, where the price of the vacation travel service is higher than thetotal vacation money of the employee, the employee may be allowed to paythe rest of the price via other payment means, such as a credit card,debit card, Internet Banking, and etc. Further, in this embodiment, eachemployee entry in the employee database is further associated with aremuneration value, which represents the remuneration of each employee.The conversion module is associated with the employee database so as todetermine the amount of vacation money that is equivalent to the paidleave of an employee.

The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fullyreveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, byapplying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for variousapplications such specific embodiments without departing from thegeneric concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modificationsshould and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and rangeof equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood thatthe phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose ofdescription and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodimentsherein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, thoseskilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can bepracticed with modification within the spirit and scope of the appendedclaims.

Although the embodiments herein are described with various specificembodiments, it will be obvious for a person skilled in the art topractice the invention with modifications. However, all suchmodifications are deemed to be within the scope of the claims.

1. An employee vacation scheduling system comprising: (a) an employeedatabase comprising a plurality of employee entries and a plurality ofnon-working calendar dates wherein, each employee entry represents anemployee working for an employer and wherein, each non-working daterepresents a non-working day, which comprises a day whereon an employeeis exempted from working, each employee entry associated with at leastone employee paid-leave-deposit-rate and a number of used paid leaves,wherein, a paid-leave-deposit-rate represents the number of paid leavesallotted to an employee per a predetermined length of time within acurrent calendar year, the sum of each predetermined length of timepertaining to each of the at least one paid-leave-deposit-rate beingequivalent to the time span of the current calendar year, and wherein, aused paid leave represents a paid leave utilized by an employee; and (b)a store module for enabling an employee to purchase a vacation travelservice out of a plurality of vacation travel services, a vacationtravel service spanning a predetermined number of vacation days, thestore module comprising: (i) a date module for enabling the employee, inthe process of purchasing the vacation travel service, to marksuccessive vacation dates for the utilization of the vacation travelservice, the vacation dates comprising an end vacation date representingthe last day of the utilization of a vacation travel service; and (ii) apayment module for enabling the employee to pay for the vacation travelservice upon determining that the number of vacation days, which pertainto the vacation dates and which exclude the non-working days, are lesserthan or equivalent to the sum of the number of paid leaves that theemployee will have by the end vacation date as determined from the atleast one paid-leave-deposit-rate corresponding to the employee and anumber of carried-over paid leaves that corresponds to the employeesubtracted by the number of used paid leaves; wherein, the number ofcarried-over paid leaves are associated with each employee entry, acarried-over paid leave representing an unused paid leave of an employeethat is carried over from a previous calendar year or years; (iii) aconversion module for converting a currently available paid leave of anemployee into an equivalent monetary value wherein unused vacation timeis a payment within the payment module.
 2. The vacation schedulingsystem of claim 1 wherein, the number of vacation days, which pertain tothe vacation dates and which excludes the non-working days, is added tothe number of used paid leaves upon the completion of the purchase ofthe vacation travel service.
 3. The vacation scheduling system of claim1 wherein, each employee entry is further associated with a number oftotal current paid leaves, which comprises the number of paid leaves theemployee currently possesses, the number of vacation days, which pertainto the vacation dates and which exclude the non-working days, subtractedfrom the number of total current paid leaves upon the completion of thepurchase of the vacation travel service; the information of the numberof total current paid leaves accessible by the employee.
 4. The vacationscheduling system of claim 3 wherein, the number of total current paidleaves comprises the sum of the number of carried-over paid leaves and anumber of current year paid leaves, which comprises the total number ofpaid leaves that pertain to the current calendar year the employeecurrently possesses, the number of current year paid leaves determinedfrom the at least one paid-leave-deposit-rate; the number of vacationdays, which pertain to the vacation dates and which excludes thenon-working days, deducted from the number of carried-over paid leavesas the number of vacation days, which pertain to the vacation dates andwhich excludes the non-working days, is subtracted from the totalcurrent paid leaves, the number of vacation days, which pertain to thevacation dates and which excludes the non-working days, subtracted fromthe number of current year paid leaves upon the exhaustion of thecarried-over paid leaves.
 5. The vacation scheduling system of claim 1wherein, each employee entry is further associated with a number oftotal entitled paid leaves, which comprises the number of paid leavesthe employee will possess by the end of the current calendar year; thenumber of vacation days, which pertain to the vacation dates and whichexclude the non-working days, subtracted from the number of totalentitled paid leaves upon the completion of the purchase of the vacationtravel service; the information of the number of total entitled paidleaves accessible by the employee.
 6. The vacation scheduling system ofclaim 5 wherein, the number of total entitled paid leaves comprises thesum of the number of carried-over paid leaves and a number of currententitled paid leaves, which comprises the number of paid leavespertaining to the current calendar year the employee will possess by theend of the current calendar year, the number of current entitled paidleaves determined from the at least one paid-leave-deposit-rate; thenumber of vacation days, which pertain to the vacation dates and whichexclude the non-working days, deducted from the number of carried-overpaid leaves as the number of vacation days, which pertain to thevacation dates and which exclude the non-working days, is subtractedfrom the total entitled paid leaves, the number of vacation days, whichpertain to the vacation dates and which exclude the non-working days,deducted from the number of current entitled paid leaves upon theexhaustion of the carried-over paid leaves.
 7. The vacation schedulingsystem of claim 1 further comprising a conversion module for convertinga currently available paid leave of an employee into equivalent vacationmoney, upon conversion, the vacation money associated with thecorresponding employee entry, the vacation money to be used towards thepurchase of a plurality of products and/or services, including vacationtravel service.
 8. The vacation scheduling system of claim 7 wherein,each employee entry is associated with a remuneration value, whichrepresents the remuneration of an employee; the vacation moneyequivalent to the paid leave of an employee determined from theremuneration thereof.
 9. The vacation scheduling system of claim 7wherein, each employee entry is further associated with a number oftotal current paid leaves, which comprises the number of paid leaves theemployee currently possesses, the converted paid leave subtracted fromthe number of total current paid leaves upon the conversion thereof; theinformation of the number of total current paid leaves accessible by theemployee.
 10. The vacation scheduling system of claim 9 wherein, thenumber of total current paid leaves comprises the sum of the number ofcarried-over paid leaves and a number of current year paid leaves, whichcomprises the total number of paid leaves that pertain to the currentcalendar year the employee currently possesses, the number of currentyear paid leaves determined from the at least onepaid-leave-deposit-rate; the converted paid leave deducted from thenumber of carried-over paid leaves as the converted paid leave issubtracted from the total current paid leaves, the converted paid leavededucted from the number of current year paid leaves upon the exhaustionof the carried-over paid leaves.
 11. The vacation scheduling system ofclaim 7 wherein, each employee entry is further associated with a numberof total entitled paid leaves, which comprises the number of paid leavesthe employee will possess by the end of the current calendar year; theconverted paid leave subtracted from the number of total entitled paidleaves upon the conversion thereof; the information of the number oftotal entitled paid leaves accessible by the employee.
 12. The vacationscheduling system of claim 11 wherein, the number of total entitled paidleaves comprises the sum of the number of carried-over paid leaves and anumber of current entitled paid leaves, which comprises the number ofpaid leaves pertaining to the current calendar year the employee willpossess by the end of the current calendar year, the number of currententitled paid leaves determined from the at least onepaid-leave-deposit-rate; the converted paid leave deducted from thenumber of carried-over paid leaves as the converted paid leave issubtracted from the total entitled paid leaves, the converted paid leavededucted from the number of current entitled paid leaves upon theexhaustion of the carried-over paid leaves.
 13. The vacation schedulingsystem of claim 1 wherein, each employee entry is further associatedwith at least one compulsory calendar date, which represents a calendardate within the current calendar year whereon, an employee is notallowed to be on a paid leave; the employee database further associatedwith the date module such that, vacation dates that include a compulsorydate cannot be marked.
 14. The vacation scheduling system of claim 1wherein, the payment module is associated with the salary account of theemployee such that, the purchase price of the vacation travel service isdeducted from the balance in the salary account.
 15. The vacationscheduling system of claim 1 being integrated with an employerinformation system so as to log the vacation dates of the employee uponthe purchase of the vacation travel service.
 16. An employee vacationscheduling system comprising: (a) an employee database comprising aplurality of employee entries and a plurality of non-working calendardates wherein, each employee entry represents an employee working for anemployer and wherein, each non-working date represents a non-workingday, which comprises a day whereon an employee is exempted from working,each employee entry associated with at least one employeepaid-leave-deposit-rate, a number of used paid leaves, and a number ofcarried-over paid leaves wherein, a paid-leave-deposit-rate representsthe number of paid leaves allotted to an employee per a predeterminedlength of time within a current calendar year, the sum of eachpredetermined length of time pertaining to each of the at least onepaid-leave-deposit-rate being equivalent to the time span of the currentcalendar year, wherein, a used paid leave represents a paid leaveutilized by an employee, and wherein, a carried-over paid leaverepresents an unused paid leave of an employee that is carried over froma previous calendar year or years; (b) a store module for enabling anemployee to purchase a vacation travel service out of a plurality ofvacation travel services, a vacation travel service spanning apredetermined number of vacation days, the store module comprising: (i)a date module for enabling the employee, in the process of purchasingthe vacation travel service, to mark successive vacation dates for theutilization of the vacation travel service, the vacation datescomprising an end vacation date representing the last day of theutilization of a vacation travel service; and (ii) a payment module forenabling the employee to pay for the vacation travel service upondetermining that the number of vacation days, which pertain to thevacation dates and which exclude the non-working days, are lesser thanor equivalent to the sum of the number of paid leaves that the employeewill be have by the end vacation date as determined from the at leastone paid-leave-deposit-rate corresponding to the employee and the numberof carried-over paid leaves subtracted by the number of used paidleaves; and (c) a conversion module for converting a currently availablepaid leave of the employee into equivalent vacation money, uponconversion, the vacation money associated with the correspondingemployee entry, the vacation money to be used towards the purchase of avacation travel service.
 17. An employee vacation scheduling methodcomprising: (a) providing an employee database comprising a plurality ofemployee entries and a plurality of non-working calendar dates wherein,each employee entry represents an employee working for an employer andwherein, each non-working date represents a non-working day, whichcomprises a day whereon an employee is exempted from working, eachemployee entry associated with at least one employeepaid-leave-deposit-rate and a number of used paid leaves, wherein, apaid-leave-deposit-rate represents the number of paid leaves allotted toan employee per a predetermined length of time within a current calendaryear, the sum of each predetermined length of time pertaining to each ofthe at least one paid-leave-deposit-rate being equivalent to the timespan of the current calendar year, and wherein, a used paid leaverepresents a paid leave utilized by an employee; and (b) providing astore module for enabling an employee to purchase a vacation travelservice out of a plurality of vacation travel services, a vacationtravel service spanning a predetermined number of vacation days, thestore module comprising: (i) a date module for enabling the employee, inthe process of purchasing the vacation travel service, to marksuccessive vacation dates for the utilization of the vacation travelservice, the vacation dates comprising an end vacation date representingthe last day of the utilization of a vacation travel service; and (ii) apayment module for enabling the employee to pay for the vacation travelservice upon determining that the number of vacation days, which pertainto the vacation dates and which exclude the non-working days, are lesserthan or equivalent to the sum of the number of paid leaves that theemployee will be have by the end vacation date as determined from the atleast one paid-leave-deposit-rate corresponding to the employee and anumber of carried-over paid leaves that corresponds to the employeesubtracted by the number of used paid leaves; wherein, the number ofcarried-over paid leaves are associated with each employee entry, acarried-over paid leave representing an unused paid leave of an employeethat is carried over from a previous calendar year or years.
 18. Thevacation scheduling method of claim 17 wherein, the number of vacationdays, which pertain to the vacation dates and which excludes thenon-working days, is added to the number of used paid leaves upon thecompletion of the purchase of the vacation travel service.
 19. Thevacation scheduling method of claim 17 wherein, each employee entry isfurther associated with a number of total current paid leaves, whichcomprises the number of paid leaves the employee currently possesses,the number of vacation days, which pertain to the vacation dates andwhich exclude the non-working days, subtracted from the number of totalcurrent paid leaves upon the completion of the purchase of the vacationtravel service; the information of the number of total current paidleaves accessible by the employee.
 20. The vacation scheduling method ofclaim 19 wherein, the number of total current paid leaves comprises thesum of the number of carried-over paid leaves and a number of currentyear paid leaves, which comprises the total number of paid leaves thatpertain to the current calendar year the employee currently possesses,the number of current year paid leaves determined from the at least onepaid-leave-deposit-rate; the number of vacation days, which pertain tothe vacation dates and which excludes the non-working days, deductedfrom the number of carried-over paid leaves as the number of vacationdays, which pertain to the vacation dates and which excludes thenon-working days, is subtracted from the total current paid leaves, thenumber of vacation days, which pertain to the vacation dates and whichexcludes the non-working days, subtracted from the number of currentyear paid leaves upon the exhaustion of the carried-over paid leaves.21. The vacation scheduling method of claim 17 wherein, each employeeentry is further associated with a number of total entitled paid leaves,which comprises the number of paid leaves the employee will possess bythe end of the current calendar year; the number of vacation days, whichpertain to the vacation dates and which exclude the non-working days,subtracted from the number of total entitled paid leaves upon thecompletion of the purchase of the vacation travel service; theinformation of the number of total entitled paid leaves accessible bythe employee.
 22. The vacation scheduling method of claim 21 wherein,the number of total entitled paid leaves comprises the sum of the numberof carried-over paid leaves and a number of current entitled paidleaves, which comprises the number of paid leaves pertaining to thecurrent calendar year the employee will possess by the end of thecurrent calendar year, the number of current entitled paid leavesdetermined from the at least one paid-leave-deposit-rate; the number ofvacation days, which pertain to the vacation dates and which exclude thenon-working days, deducted from the number of carried-over paid leavesas the number of vacation days, which pertain to the vacation dates andwhich exclude the non-working days, is subtracted from the totalentitled paid leaves, the number of vacation days, which pertain to thevacation dates and which exclude the non-working days, deducted from thenumber of current entitled paid leaves upon the exhaustion of thecarried-over paid leaves.
 23. The vacation scheduling method of claim 17further comprising providing conversion module for converting acurrently available paid leave of an employee into equivalent vacationmoney, upon conversion, the vacation money associated with thecorresponding employee entry, the vacation money to be used towards thepurchase of a vacation travel service.
 24. The vacation schedulingmethod of claim 23 wherein, each employee entry is associated with aremuneration value, which represents the remuneration of an employee;the vacation money equivalent to the paid leave of an employeedetermined from the remuneration thereof.
 25. The vacation schedulingmethod of claim 23 wherein, each employee entry is further associatedwith a number of total current paid leaves, which comprises the numberof paid leaves the employee currently possesses, the converted paidleave subtracted from the number of total current paid leaves upon theconversion thereof; the information of the number of total current paidleaves accessible by the employee.
 26. The vacation scheduling method ofclaim 25 wherein, the number of total current paid leaves comprises thesum of the number of carried-over paid leaves and a number of currentyear paid leaves, which comprises the total number of paid leaves thatpertain to the current calendar year the employee currently possesses,the number of current year paid leaves determined from the at least onepaid-leave-deposit-rate; the converted paid leave deducted from thenumber of carried-over paid leaves as the converted paid leave issubtracted from the total current paid leaves, the converted paid leavededucted from the number of current year paid leaves upon the exhaustionof the carried-over paid leaves.
 27. The vacation scheduling method ofclaim 23 wherein, each employee entry is further associated with anumber of total entitled paid leaves, which comprises the number of paidleaves the employee will possess by the end of the current calendaryear; the converted paid leave subtracted from the number of totalentitled paid leaves upon the conversion thereof; the information of thenumber of total entitled paid leaves accessible by the employee.
 28. Thevacation scheduling method of claim 27 wherein, the number of totalentitled paid leaves comprises the sum of the number of carried-overpaid leaves and a number of current entitled paid leaves, whichcomprises the number of paid leaves pertaining to the current calendaryear the employee will possess by the end of the current calendar year,the number of current entitled paid leaves determined from the at leastone paid-leave-deposit-rate; the converted paid leave deducted from thenumber of carried-over paid leaves as the converted paid leave issubtracted from the total entitled paid leaves, the converted paid leavededucted from the number of current entitled paid leaves upon theexhaustion of the carried-over paid leaves.
 29. The vacation schedulingmethod of claim 17 wherein, each employee entry is further associatedwith at least one compulsory calendar date, which represents a calendardate within the current calendar year whereon, an employee is notallowed to be on a paid leave; the employee database further associatedwith the date module such that, vacation dates that include a compulsorydate cannot be marked.
 30. The vacation scheduling method of claim 17wherein, the payment module is associated with the salary account of theemployee such that, the purchase price of the vacation travel service isdeducted from the balance in the salary account.
 31. The vacationscheduling method of claim 17 further comprising associating the storemodule with an employer information system so as to log the vacationdates of the employee, upon the purchase of the vacation travel service,into the employer information system.
 32. An employee vacationscheduling method comprising: (a) providing an employee databasecomprising a plurality of employee entries and a plurality ofnon-working calendar dates wherein, each employee entry represents anemployee working for an employer and wherein, each non-working daterepresents a non-working day, which comprises a day whereon an employeeis exempted from working, each employee entry associated with at leastone employee paid-leave-deposit-rate, a number of used paid leaves, anda number of carried-over paid leaves wherein, a paid-leave-deposit-raterepresents the number of paid leaves allotted to an employee per apredetermined length of time within a current calendar year, the sum ofeach predetermined length of time pertaining to each of the at least onepaid-leave-deposit-rate being equivalent to the time span of the currentcalendar year, wherein, a used paid leave represents a paid leaveutilized by an employee, and wherein, a carried-over paid leaverepresents an unused paid leave of an employee that is carried over froma previous calendar year or years; (b) providing a store module forenabling an employee to purchase a vacation travel service out of aplurality of vacation travel services, a vacation travel servicespanning a predetermined number of vacation days, the store modulecomprising: (i) a date module for enabling the employee, in the processof purchasing the vacation travel service, to mark successive vacationdates for the utilization of the vacation travel service, the vacationdates comprising an end vacation date representing the last day of theutilization of a vacation travel service; and (ii) a payment module forenabling the employee to pay for the vacation travel service upondetermining that the number of vacation days, which pertain to thevacation dates and which exclude the non-working days, are lesser thanor equivalent to the sum of the number of paid leaves that the employeewill be have by the end vacation date as determined from the at leastone paid-leave-deposit-rate corresponding to the employee and the numberof carried-over paid leaves subtracted by the number of used paidleaves; and (d) providing a conversion module for converting a currentlyavailable paid leave of the employee into equivalent monetary value,upon conversion, the vacation money associated with the correspondingemployee entry, the vacation money to be used towards the purchase of avacation travel services or other products and services.